


Beautifully Cold

by Annide



Series: 911 Weeks [7]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 911week2020, Fluff, Gen, Road Trips, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:02:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25192096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annide/pseuds/Annide
Summary: The Grant-Nash family goes on a trip to Minnesota in the middle of winter.
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Bobby Nash & Grant Family
Series: 911 Weeks [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808203
Comments: 10
Kudos: 31





	Beautifully Cold

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 911week Day 7: Free Choice

“Are we going down?” Athena asked. When the seatbelt sign had lit up a few minutes ago, they’d all thought they were entering some turbulence.

“Finally.” Harry said, looking down at the airport through his window.

“It’s too soon, honey. Something’s wrong, we can’t be there yet.”

“Forecast did mention a possibility of snowstorm for St Paul, maybe they’re redirecting the planes. Visibility might not be good enough for landing.” Bobby said.

“What are we gonna do?” Harry turned back to the rest of the family.

“We’ll rent a car and drive the rest of the way. It’ll be fun, like a road trip.”

“We can’t drive through a snowstorm. It’s too dangerous.” Athena said.

“I’ve done this before. I’ll drive slowly, be really careful, don’t worry we’ll get there in one piece.”

Harry seemed excited, but May was a little worried. She trusted Bobby of course. He’d lived in Minnesota for years, he was probably used to driving in the winter weather. But it had been a few years, he might be rusty and a full-blown snowstorm was hardly an easy situation to get back to. Mostly she was worried because it was entirely new to her, to her entire family. They’d never seen a snowstorm before.

Growing up, she’d often dreamed of seeing the glistening white snow in person. She’d seen so many movies and read books about how beautiful it was. A multitude of scenes of people having a great time in the snow played back in her mind and she smiled. Then she looked outside, where snow was falling quietly. It looked so peaceful, it was hard to believe that not that far from here it was bad enough to make people slide off the road.

The plane landed. Bobby went straight to the car rental to be sure to get something, while the rest of them headed to baggage claim. They met back at the entrance. Now, they took the time to get brand new winter coats, scarves, hats, gloves and boots out of their luggage and put them on. It was the reason they had such big suitcases for only a few days. Even then, nothing could’ve prepared them for how cold it was. They knew Minnesota in winter had to be cold. They knew snow only existed in the cold. But neither of them expected this. May and Harry thought it would be similar to the temperature at the ice skating rink they’d gone to with Bobby before. They were wrong. It was even colder.

“Now, I understand why you left this place for California.” Athena said.

The wind was so cold, it felt as though it could cut their faces. When it stopped blowing for a second, it actually wasn’t all that bad, something they could get used to. But the wind seemed to take all the oxygen from the air. May wasn’t sure she could even breathe through it. If that was the price of having such beautifully white and shiny landscapes for half the year, then May wasn’t sure she thought it worth it. She still had a few days to experience more of winter though. She was taking this impromptu trip to Minnesota to help her consider her options. She had applied to colleges on the east coast, with climates not quite as warm as California, as well as some closer to home. While New York might not have as harsh a winter as this, she thought it good to at least see snow before she made any kind of decision. Not that she’d received any answer yet, it was still way too soon for that.

They walked across the parking lot to where the rental cars were. The employee had been nice enough to tell Bobby exactly where theirs was, which was very helpful since they could barely distinguished models. May, Harry and Athena felt discouraged, but Bobby wasn’t letting any of that bring him down. It was ironic considering he was the one who didn’t want to come in the first place.

“The car is completely buried under snow.” May said, rubbing her gloved hands against her arms in the hope of warming herself up. “We’ll never get out of here.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll shovel it out.” Bobby talked as if this was an everyday, run of the mill thing. Which it probably used to be for him. “There should be a snow brush in there. I’ll start the car, you three sit inside and I’ll take care of it. It’ll only take a few minutes and then we’ll be on the road.”

May and Athena climbed in. They had to wipe snow off their seat first because it fell in when they opened the doors. With all the windows covered, light could barely make it through and it looked dark inside, though an eerie, comforting kind of dark. They sat and kept shivering as they waited for the car to warm up. Harry decided to stay outside with Bobby to watch him clean the car. May thought it was adorable how fascinated he was by the entire thing. He was so excited, it made her miss childhood, when anything new could make your day and bring a smile to your face.

“Why are you looking at the tires?” Harry asked.

“I’m making sure the car has winter tires, so they’ll have a good grip on the snow and it’ll be safe to drive.”

“I didn’t know there were different types of tires.”

“Of course there are. Driving on snow and ice is very different than on dry roads or rain. When you live in a place like Minnesota, you have to change tires with the seasons. Unless you get all-season tires, but winter ones really are better.”

“And which one does this car have?”

“Winter, so we are ready to brave the storm.”

Bobby finished getting all the snow off the car, having to do a quick second sweep because snow kept falling and accumulating on it while he moved to a different section. Everyone settled in and they were on their way again. The lines on the road were completely covered, they could barely see a few feet in front of them and they could feel the winds pushing against them. May didn’t know how anyone could drive in those kinds of conditions. She drove in the rain once and felt incredibly nervous. However, the fact that Bobby remained calm and seemingly unaffected made them all feel safer. It was a reassuring thing to watch him at the wheel, in the chaotic weather, careful but confident.

When they’d receive the invitation from Mrs Nash for the whole family to come visit, May and Harry had been excited. They were curious to meet Bobby’s parents. Athena had also been eager for a chance to finally get to know her in-laws. Bobby, however, had been reluctant to go. He gave them a few reasons, most of them pretty weak. Like how much of a hassle it would be to travel that far in the winter. How they would need to buy practically an entire wardrobe for each of them to handle the cold. In the end, May and Harry’s excitement to finally see snow in real life and Athena firmly telling him they deserved a few days off had won.

“This brings back so many memories.”

Exhaustion transpired through Bobby’s voice. May suspected the effort he needed to put in focusing on the road and making sure they didn’t slide off must’ve worn him off. They’d been on the road for a few hours now, but they were finally entering the city of St Paul. Here, the buildings cut the wind slightly more efficiently, limiting the amount of powdering obstructing their view.

“Good or bad?” May said, worried they’d forced him to relive the loss of his wife and kids just so they could spend time in the snow.

“Both. I’ve lived here most of my life, there’s a bit of everything. Some of my best and worst moments happened in this place.”

Athena reached across and put her hand on Bobby’s knee in a comforting gesture. It made May smile. She enjoyed seeing how much they loved and cared for each other, how happy they made one another. She hoped to have something like that one day. She hoped her dad could get that too. She turned to look at her brother who had fallen asleep an hour ago. She wanted to savour this trip, because she would miss this when she went away to college. Just being together with her family. May spent the rest of the way staring out the window, appreciating how magical the snow made the city look with all of the lights illuminating it.

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel: [Gratefully Together](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25924999)


End file.
